RICHARD BANEHAM, graduate of Ballyfermot College of Further Education, shares a well-deserved Oscar trophy with Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, and Andrew R. Jones. Richard earned the Oscar for Visual Effects for his work in Avatar and in doing so, he put down a marker for creative Ireland at a time when "grade inflation" seems to be the preferred topic of discussion among the non-creative class in Ireland. Much of Ireland's creative genius can be traced back to immersive tutorial experiences in creative spaces like Ballyfermot, Dun Laoghaire and other third level institutions involved in the craft of visual language training and life drawing. I've listened to interviewers chat with Oscar nominees and their creative cadre (Tomm Moore, Paul Young, Darragh O'Connell) and it becomes obvious that where award-winning creativity is happening, foundation skills are paramount.
Drawing and the art of narration features in a new animation degree programme under review in Tipperary Institute. It takes years, "8-10 years to understand why we had learned this," Baneham told IFTN, as he reflected on why an accredited third level curriculum spends so much time on those core skills. As all the dust settles and Third Level Ireland attempts to horn into the spotlight of Oscar glory, those carping about standards should take a moment to reflect on the fact that some of the best creative minds coming from Ireland did not approach third level with a pile of CAO points. Many of the most successful animators and designers in Ireland did not complete four years of college. Instead, they reveled in achieving high marks in continuous assessments, built commendable portfolios in a collegial atmosphere, and learned what the creative industry admired before they went off in search of professional exposure.
Said another way, it's not smart for the Department of Education and Science to chase after a lagging indicator like academic marks. Instead, it's more fruitful setting standards for continuous assessment and in archiving portfolio work appraised to meet course training guidelines. I would really like to put Richard Baneham's Ballyfermot portfolio on display at our Digital Expression exhibition in April so my creative multimedia students can see the kind of work an up-and-coming creative needs to accomplish at third level.
Aileen Moon -- "Interview with Richard Baneham" on IFTN, 4 March 2010.
BBC lists the Oscar winners for 2010.
Maeve Dineen -- "We need to get more animated about our talented cartoon studios" in the Irish Independent, 8 March 2010.
